The pot of funding was first announced during London International Shipping Week 2023 and covers journeys for passengers and freight to and from the UK.
The funding forms the fifth round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and is aimed at supporting feasibility studies on the development of green corridors. The necessary infrastructure development along the routes to enable vessels to run on green fuels will be examined, as well as any regulatory support.
The UK-Ireland competition will open for bids on 15 April 2024, followed by the UK-Netherlands competition on 3 June 2024. Both countries will provide match funding of £430k. The UK-Norway and UK-Denmark procurements will launch in May 2024.
The government said the initiative would look for ways to achieve the net zero commitments without increasing costs to the taxpayer.
Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway, said: “The UK and Norway have long standing relations on shipping, and with the initiative taken by the UK on the Clydebank Declaration in 2021, we have cooperated closely on the development of green shipping corridors. I am very pleased that we will now see the beginning of green shipping corridors between our two countries and look forward to contributing with support through our Green Shipping Programme.”
Rhett Hatcher, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: “To be most impactful we need to look at the broadest range of fuels and technologies, including those that are available today and those that may become available in the future. Additionally, we must ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place along the corridor, port to port.”
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